State Rests Case Against Casey Anthony, Defense to Begin Their Case Thursday

Florida state concluded their case against Casey Marie Anthony on Tuesday, calling their final four witnesses to the stand for the last testimonies.

The state accused the 25-year-old of first-degree murder upon her 2-year-old daughter and dumping the corpse in the woods near her home in 2008. The defense, who claims the child, Caylee Marie Anthony, accidentally drowned, is expected to start their case on Thursday, which according to Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., may take only a week.

Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, was called to the stand once again to testify about the hair types in the Anthony family to fight that the hair found in the vehicle's trunk did not belong to anyone but Caylee. Cindy said she usually dyes her hair, but her daughter didn't regularly change her hair style until after she had Caylee.

Susan Constantine said this was "brilliant." Constantine is a body language expert as seen on CNN. "It's down to hair color," she said. "Virgin hair versus chemical-induced hair."

Also on the list of witnesses for day 18 was Alina Burroughs, a crime scene investigator for Orange County, said when she searched the Anthony's home for evidence, she found heart-shaped stickers that resembled what would have been left on the duct tape in order to create the imprint of the shape by sticky residue.

Constantine commented: "That's really huge because now they are tying in the sticker."

The state's last witness was Bobby Williams, a tattoo artist who has known Anthony for about seven years. During direct examination, Williams told Prosecutor Frank George that Anthony went into the tattoo shop on July 2, 2008 to make an appointment to get a tattoo, "Bella Vita in a feminine type font," surrounded by three stars.

"Bella Vita" translates from Italian to English as "Beautiful Life." Jose Baez, defense attorney, argued in cross examination that people get tattoos in honor of loved ones who have passed.

Once Williams competed his testimony, Jeff Ashton, prosecutor who direct examined Williams, said the state rested their case.

Judge Jeanine Pirro from Fox News said the state did a good job trying to prove their case. "They did the best job they could with all the evidence they have," said Pirro.

Some have argued that because this is trial based only on circumstantial evidence, the death penalty should not be on the table, but Pirro says, "Most murders are circumstantial evidence. There will be no smoking gun in child homicide."

With the lack of clear evidence, that leaves the jury to put all of the facts and evidence together to decide if Casey is guilty of murdering the little girl or if it really was just an accident, but before they make their decision, the defense still needs to provide their case.

Karin Moore, a former criminal attorney turned law professor, said she wants to see what the defense has in store. "They defense made such strong allegations in their opening statements that the jury is going to want the defense to prove that." Allegations, she said, such as the sexual abuse and George Anthony, the defendant's father, being the one to put the duct tape over his granddaughter's mouth. "The defense practically assumed the burden of proof," Moore added.

The defense is set to begin their case on Thursday at 9 a.m.

(Photography Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/POOL)